Man convicted in triple murder stuck in legal limbo

THIBODAUX -- A Thibodaux man convicted in 2000 of a triple murder in Schriever is in legal limbo, awaiting the possibility of a new trial in Terrebonne Parish.

A lawyer for Christopher Gage, 25, is arguing his client was tried without his mental competency being addressed beforehand. Gage is serving life in prison for the shooting deaths of Gregory Robinson, 39, Magdalene Johnson, 34, and Bennie Carter, 43, in Carter's Schriever home Dec. 15, 1997.

The state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal agreed with Gage's argument, sending his case back to district court in September 2001.

"If the trial court believes that it is still possible to determine the defendant's competency at the time of the trial on the charges, the trial court is directed to hold an evidentiary hearing," the appellate court's decision reads. "If the defendant is found to have been incompetent at the time of trial, or if the inquiry into competency is found to be impossible, defendant Gage is entitled to a new trial."

Gage's lawyer, Robert Pastor of New Orleans, said Friday he believes his client should be granted a new trial.

"The question is, how do you go back in time to determine his state of mind?" Pastor said.

Gage was 21 when he went to trial and 19 in December 1997, when he, Gary Mathews and Leonard Pharagood went to Carter's 110 Hausey St. mobile home looking for Robinson, who reportedly had some drugs belonging to Gage.

According to witnesses, Mathews blocked the door while Gage approached Robinson and demanded "where's my (stuff)?" He then put a gun to Robinson's head and pulled the trigger.

Johnson and Carter, who had been smoking crack with Robinson and three other witnesses, fled the trailer through a bedroom window, police and media reports said. They were gunned down outside. Johnson's body was found lying against a fence, a crack pipe still in her hand.

A fourth victim, Lela Arcement, was shot inside the trailer as she sat in a chair near the door, reports said. She survived, undergoing several surgeries for at least four gunshot wounds.

One of the bullets that hit Arcement shattered some of her teeth and severed her tongue, the reports said.

Although Mathews and Pharagood were arrested within two days of the shootings, Gage was on the run for more than eight months. He was captured in August 1998 as a suspect in an armed robbery near Alexandria.

Pastor explained that, as Gage's initial lawyer, he had his client plead not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. He also filed a motion for a psychiatric examination.

Though two doctors were ordered to examine Gage, it never happened.

"Before the trial, I was taken off of the case," Pastor said. "My co-counsel, who took over, had him change his plea to not guilty."

According to the appellate court's records, the motion for psychiatric examination was overlooked and Gage was allowed to go to trial.

"After the motion was signed and the sanity commission ordered, no further steps in the prosecution of Gage should have been taken until the issue of defendant's competency had been decided," the court said.